Sentinel-6B, a joint US-European ocean monitoring satellite, launched Sunday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base took place at 9:21 p.m. Pacific time (05:21 UTC on Monday).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Sentinel-6B spacecraft is the second of two Jason Continuity of Service (Jason-CS) missions, launching five years after its sister satellite, Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich<\/em>. The Sentinel-6 satellites are the current generation in a long-running series of ocean topography satellites that began with the TOPEX\/Poseidon mission, launched in August 1992. The series continued with three Jason satellites over the following decades before aligning with the European Union\u2019s Copernicus program and adopting the Sentinel name.<\/p>\n The mission is a collaborative effort between space and environmental agencies on both sides of the Atlantic. The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) will operate the satellite in partnership with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the distinct European Union Space Programme also have roles within the project.<\/p>\n Copernicus is the European Union\u2019s Earth observation program. It uses a constellation of satellites with differing instruments and capabilities to build a detailed picture of our planet and its environment. Sentinel-6\u2019s role is to measure global sea levels, wave heights, and ocean winds.<\/p>\n The new Sentinel-6B spacecraft will ensure the continuation of over 30 years of uninterrupted data recorded across the TOPEX\/Poseidon, Jason, and Sentinel-6 satellites. After a year of concurrent lead-in operation, it will also take over Sentinel-6A\u2019s role as the reference mission for other altimetry satellites, which will use its data to calibrate their observations.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n